5 Factors To Take Into Account To Write More Successful Grant Applications

Navigating the grant application process requires strategic thinking to increase success rates for clubs and associations. This guide outlines five essential factors, including the critical need to align your project with the funder's goals and understanding the perspective of grant assessors. Learn how to provide compelling evidence, craft a precise budget, and apply SMART principles to your written application, all crucial steps for securing the funding your nonprofit organisation needs.

On Wednesday, the 2nd of July 2025, Kate Wilson from Tender Plus held a webinar called “Why grant applications fail and how to avoid common pitfalls”. This session delivered exactly what it promised, delving into the intricacies of writing successful grant applications and highlighting common reasons why they often fall short.

I attended the webinar, took notes, and am now here to share some insights into the grant writing process and where organisations typically go wrong.

Firstly, it's worth noting that Kate Wilson, who ran the presentation, brings a unique perspective, having worked on both sides of the fence. She has reviewed and approved potential grants, written and submitted grant applications herself, and now helps others navigate this complex process. This firsthand experience from multiple angles definitely made her a truly well-informed speaker on this matter. 

In this article, we will look at: 

• What percentage of grant applications are successful
• Ensuring you align with the funder’s goals
• Who is reviewing your application
• Providing evidence to back up your application
• Putting together a budget 
• Writing your application

Grant Success Rates: A Numbers Game

Before we dive deeper, let's set some realistic expectations about grant success. Statistics on the percentage of successful grant applications vary wildly depending on the industry, the grant provider, and the specific study. While comprehensive Australian statistics on grant success rates are few and far between, some cases show acceptance rates as low as 10% and others as high as 30% This makes sense when you consider that there can be hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of applications for just a handful of potential grant spots.

The key to overcoming these low odds is to apply for multiple grants; it basically comes down to how many irons you have in the fire. The more grants you apply for, the better your chances of one of them coming off. However, do NOT just apply for grants randomly. If you apply for grants for which you clearly do not meet the criteria, you risk damaging your organisation's reputation with the grant providers, which could hurt future opportunities. You know I’m serious about this, because I put not in caps and bold, so seriously don’t do it. 
 

In summary, don’t put all your eggs in one basket; do apply for multiple grants, but only for those for which you meet all of the criteria.

1. Alignment with Funders

One common reason grant applications fail is due to a fundamental misalignment between the applicant's goals and the funder's objectives. Any organisation offering funding will have a specific goal in mind that motivates them. If your organisation does not align with their goal and help them achieve it, you are unlikely to receive the grant.

For example, let’s say Rugby Australia is offering a grant specifically to increase the number of girls playing youth rugby. The fact that your club simply has a girls' rugby team might not be enough to secure the grant. However, if you have a clear, strategic plan to raise awareness of the sport and actively recruit more girls, and you can demonstrate that plan, then you're in with a much better shot.

All funders will have a goal in mind; they are giving out money to help achieve this. Work out what this goal is, and if you can help them achieve it, make sure they know; if you can’t, then don’t apply. 

2. Who Is Reviewing Your Grant Application?

One of the major things I took away from the session was about who the people are that are reviewing your grant applications, a subject I had personally never given much thought to. Now that I've had a wee peek behind the curtain, I can confidently say it’s something we should be taking into account. Grant assessors are often from financial or compliance backgrounds, meaning they are technically minded people who are going to be very good at digging into details. So ensure you cross your Ts and dot your Is. 

While the webinar didn't delve into the specifics of a grant assessor’s daily schedule, there was enough information to get a pretty decent idea of what it's like. So, put yourselves in their shoes for a moment: it's a Wednesday morning, you get into the office, and you see an email. 1,200 different not-for-profits have applied for a grant that can go to a maximum of five recipients, and it's your job to go through all 1,200 applications and choose those five. How would you do it? Would you read every single application in detail? Probably not. You'd likely find a few ways to filter them at a high level, effectively cutting them down from a thousand to a dozen or so. Only then would you really start reading them in any detail.

Therefore, you should expect the person reviewing your application to start with the top-level requirements and work their way down. If there are any high-level requirements that your organisation doesn't meet, don't apply. If you don't meet a requirement but decide to apply anyway and attempt to explain why you should still qualify despite not technically ticking a box, your well-written explanation will likely never be seen. They'll just see you didn't meet a basic requirement, and your application will be discarded.

3. Evidence and Due Diligence: Proving Your Claims

As part of your grant application, you will need to show the grant provider that you:

• Meet the grant requirements
• Have a plan on how you will use the grant money 
• Show how this will help the provider achieve their goals
• Show them a budget of how the grant money will be spent

A key part of this is being able to back up your claims with robust evidence; it's no good just saying, "we will use the grant money to improve X in our region." You need to support your claims with concrete evidence to build credibility and trust. This means including:

• Evaluations & Surveys: Demonstrating past program success and member satisfaction.
• Testimonials & Case Studies: Compelling stories or quotes from beneficiaries that show real-world impact.
• Relevant Research: Citing studies or data that support the need for your project or its methodology.
• Demographic Data: Providing statistics about your target community or beneficiaries to justify need.
• Letters of Support: From community leaders, other organisations, or key stakeholders who endorse your project.
• Media Mentions: Any press coverage your organisation or similar initiatives have received.

When mentioning partners, be specific and name them rather than using vague statements.

If you've received grants before, even if not explicitly asked, mention your past successes; this demonstrates that you've effectively managed and used funding in the past. Remember that funders will also perform their own due diligence, checking your public records like your ACNC registration and financial statements for consistency. Some grant assessors will even go a step further, reviewing your website and social media to ensure everything aligns with your application.

You want everything to be consistent, clear, and backed up by evidence, so the assessors can easily see that you meet their requirements and have a plan on how you will spend the money to support their aims. 

4. Making Sense of Your Grant Budget

When applying for grants, your proposed budget is the first among equals. If your budget doesn’t hold water, your grant will fail. 

Your budget is your plan on how you will use the provided funding to meet the funder's aims. You need to lay out your plan on what the money will be spent on, what activities will be enabled, what the results of these activities will be and the long-term effects they will have. 

Below is a screenshot from the Tender Plus slides, which outlines how to order your plan/budget using the funder's money to achieve their goals. I think it does a great job of explaining what you need to do. 

 

 

You want your plan to be clear and precise, use accurate figures, and get quotes on things before you put together your plan/budget. For the venue you are going to hire to host the event, reach out to them and get a quote and include their quoted price in your budget. Assessors want to see that you're being proactive, and most importantly, that your budget is accurate. 

Grant assessors are often from financial or compliance backgrounds; they will scrutinise budgets for realism and justification, looking for gaps like an auditor. Funders always seek value for money, so be prepared to justify your costs. Demonstrating co-funding or in-kind support is highly regarded as it shows your organisation has "skin in the game." 

Avoid common pitfalls like inconsistencies between budget figures and your plan, totals that don't match, including ineligible items, or presenting high, unexplained lump sum costs. Instead, be specific and quantify everything (how many, by when, for how long), justify salaries, include indirect costs if permitted, and get quotes for big items early.

Here is another screenshot from the Tender Plus slideshow of what a good budget might look like. 

 

 

See how all the costs are broken down into their base parts? The assessor will be able to immediately see that you have done the legwork, are proactive and most importantly, where the money is going. Make sure your figures are accurate; they will double-check them. 

Do note that some grants will not allow you to pay for staffing costs with grant money; check if the grant you are applying for allows this or not. If they don’t allow it, don’t include it in your budget, but probably mention how you plan to cover staffing costs. That way they know you are putting your own money on the line or if another organisation is already pitching in to help, both will build trust. 

5. Writing Your Grant Application - What To Do And What Not To Do 

A significant portion of the presentation focused on the written sections of grant applications, and this goes beyond just full, open-ended responses. It applies to every instance where you need to enter an answer in your own words. So, let's dive into how to make those count.

Write statements using SMART

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound. Whenever you are talking about your goals with funding, the effects your actions will have or how you will help the funder achieve their goals, you should write using the SMART principle. It should be written in most cases in the format “We will deliver What by When to Who, as measured by How the benefits will work.”

 

 

For example, here’s a statement that doesn't use the SMART principle:

• “Our plan will ensure the Australian cricket team wins all their matches.”

That statement is far from specific. While it's kind of measurable, it doesn't sound achievable or realistic, as winning 100% of matches is virtually unheard of. Plus, it isn't time-bound; we don't know how long this plan will take to make them win their matches, nor for how long the winning streak is expected to last.

Here's that statement, now using the SMART principle and What, When, Who, How:

• "We will ensure the Australian Men’s cricket team wins 95% of matches over the next 18 months, by buying all Australian bowlers sandpaper (six bowlers x two sheets each, 12 sheets x $2.50 = $30) for a total of $30. This will result in increased public support for the Australian men’s cricket team, as measured by a 15% rise in merchandise sales and a 10% increase in positive media sentiment."

This statement, on the other hand, is perfectly SMART. It's Specific; we know exactly how the money is being spent and on what. It's clearly Measurable and Time-bound, with a target of a 95% win rate over 18 months and a resulting rise in merch sales and positive media sentiment. Finally, it's Realistic, as a 95% win rate via organised cheating is a relatively realistic target.

I’ll admit, I had a little fun there, but you’re not going to forget SMART now, are you? So be specific, make sure the assessors know exactly what you are going to do with funding. 

Easy To Read Formatting

A big takeaway was the importance of formatting the written sections of your grant applications. Even after whittling down applications, reviewers will have a lot to go through and will probably be skim-reading at first. So, you want to format any written sections to be as easy to read as possible.

This means using titles, subtitles, dot points, italics, bold text, and multiple paragraphs; anything to improve readability. No one wants to read huge, unbroken slabs of text.

Avoid Jargon, Cliches & Business Babble 

You may be asking right now, “Piper, is business babble a phrase?” And to that I say, I don’t know, but it sounds good and it makes sense, so I'm sticking with it. Business babble meaning those meaningless business phrases that all of us with white collar jobs use too frequently; “let’s circle back”, “start a dialogue, “shifting paradigms”. You get the picture; limit that stuff to none. It sucks to read and often comes across as disingenuous. 

When it comes to the text itself, the webinar covered several points that are just good writing tips generally. Keep it simple, avoid jargon, and don’t write in big, flowery sentences. You want your writing to be easy to read the first time, the assessor should be able to take it all in without having to reread a passage. 

When in doubt, follow George Orwell’s rules for writing. 

 

Summary Of Applying For Grants

We’ve covered a lot of ground in this article, so let’s just go back over some of the key points: 

• Apply for multiple grants as long as you meet the requirements 
• Ensure that what you're planning will help the grant supplier achieve their goals
• Ensure you meet all the grant requirements before applying 
• Have an accurate and detailed plan on how you will use the money
• Show evidence that your plan will work 
• Show that your organisation is trustworthy and has a good reputation 
• Have a detailed and accurate budget 
• Breakdown costs in your budget to show working 
• When writing, use SMART and What, When, Who, How
• Make the  written sections easy to read
• Keep your writing simple 

Where Next On Your Grant Journey

We’re not partnered with them or anything, but Tender Plus were super knowledgeable on this subject and is a fellow Aussie business, so check them out for more on applying for grants. Tender Plus. 

For some tips on how to find grants to apply to, check out How To Find Grants For Your Club, Not-For-Profit Or Association.